WASHINGTON ― Democrats on Capitol Hill are fuming about President Donald Trump’s Monday night announcement that he is freezing all federal grants and loans, a stunning action that appears as unconstitutional as it is harmful to millions of Americans.
They also seem to have been jolted awake in a way they haven’t been in months. For the first time since Trump’s win in November, there is a whiff of resistance back in the air.
“This is a 5 alarm f-ing fire,” Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.) said Tuesday on social media. “We work hard not to shut government down in Congress. Trump has decided he can do by fiat out of petulance and blind allegiance to the Project 2025 crowd. You either enable him or stand up to him in this moment. There is no other option.”
Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), who caucuses with Democrats, all but told his colleagues to step it up in their role as federal lawmakers or go home.
“What happened last night is the most direct assault on the authority of Congress, I believe, in the history of the United States,” King said at a Tuesday media event. “If this stands, then Congress may as well adjourn. The implications of this is the executive can pick and choose which congressional enactments they will execute.”
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) had a more blunt take on the president’s claim he was only temporarily halting all federal grant spending: “Bullshit.”
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Trump’s sweeping action, directed by the Office of Management and Budget, is so vaguely written that it’s not even clear which programs, if any, are exempted, meaning billions if not trillions in federal dollars will stop flowing to even the most vital of programs all over the country. Some already affected by the freeze include Head Start, critical medical research and even Medicaid, which has reportedly seen its portals go down in all 50 states.
As expected, a federal judge temporarily blocked Trump’s action late Tuesday.
The president has signed lots of damaging executive orders in his first week back in the White House, including his mass firing of independent inspectors general at several federal agencies, his mass firing of Justice Department lawyers who previously worked on Trump’s prosecutions and his reinstatement of a ban on transgender people serving in the military.
But his OMB directive is so much broader in scope and has the potential to inflict pain on so many vulnerable people (and is so illegal) that it’s landed differently with Democrats. They’re showing signs, even if just early signs, that they’ve got a fight in them again.
Nearly two dozen Democrats on Tuesday opposed confirmation of Trump’s transportation secretary nominee, Sean Duffy, who is relatively noncontroversial. Some explicitly said their reason was because of the president’s freeze on federal money.
“I was ready to confirm Sean Duffy to lead the Department of Transportation, but I cannot vote for him after the chaos President Trump has unleashed with his order to pause critical federal funding to Nevada,” Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) said in a statement.
“The funding being held up by President Trump includes support for Nevada’s seniors, veterans, and families ― not to mention grants for job-creating transportation projects statewide,” said Cortez Masto. “Working families deserve real answers from the Trump Administration about how they are going to fix the mess they’ve created.”
“Heading into this week, I was prepared to vote to confirm Rep. Duffy. Our conversations were productive and encouraging, and I thought he was sufficiently qualified to serve as Transportation Secretary,” Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) said in a statement. “But President Trump’s sweeping order to freeze federal grant funding ... is illegal and hurting Americans in red and blue states alike, and I cannot vote to confirm a Transportation Secretary while transportation funding is being unlawfully withheld.”
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) told reporters that his vote against Duffy was because of ”this executive order that is creating chaos and confusion” within the Department of Transportation, among other agencies.
“So we can no longer do business as usual when the president is recklessly and reprehensibly seizing the power of the purse unlawfully,” he said.
It might not seem like a profound show of force that 22 of 47 Senate Democrats voted against Duffy’s nomination. But consider that just a day before, on Monday, the Senate voted 97-0 on a procedural step to advance Duffy’s nomination. Instead of just going along to get along, senators are rediscovering their ability to send a message with votes.
“You either enable him or stand up to him in this moment. There is no other option.”
- Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.)
Democrats also banded together Tuesday to block a Republican-led bill to sanction International Criminal Court officials. Only one Democrat, Sen. John Fetterman (Pa.), voted with the GOP to advance the bill.
Meanwhile, some Democrats are hinting at broader plans to jam Senate business.
“While President Trump illegally pauses federal funding from Congress, the Senate must not be business as usual,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said Tuesday on social media. “We do not consent to this lawless power grab.”
To be sure, Democrats have little control over what Senate Republicans want to do in the next two years, at least. They can filibuster legislation if they stick together, but with a 47-53 minority, Democrats will have to win over at least four Republicans every time they want to prevent confirmation of any of Trump’s executive or judicial nominees.
It doesn’t mean they’re helpless, though. Even in the minority, if they stay unified and have the will to do it, Democrats could make a real mess of how the Senate functions and does (or doesn’t) advance Trump’s priorities.
Democrats could, for example, vote against every so-called “cloture” motion ― a procedural step that ends debate on whatever business is pending on the Senate floor. They could vote against giving unanimous consent any time a nominee or bill is ready for floor action. They could demand recorded votes on every Senate action that requires a vote, instead of agreeing to a quick voice vote and moving along.
None of these steps would necessarily prevent Republicans from pushing through the bills or nominees that Trump wants. But if Democrats did this on the regular, it would drag out the process of getting anything done by hours, days, possibly weeks.
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Progressive advocacy groups, too, seem to be treating Trump’s OMB directive as a renewed call to action for anyone who cares about protecting democracy.
“If Trump gets away with this, every law Congress passes becomes optional for future presidents. We can’t let that happen,” said Ezra Levin, co-founder and co-executive director of Indivisible, a progressive movement formed in resistance to Trump. “This is a revolution, not a memo ― and it’s time to meet the moment with relentless, uncompromising pushback.”
“We will not stand by while this administration blatantly tries to take away the freedoms and programs that support families and strengthen our communities,” vowed Lupe Rodriguez, executive director at the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice.
It’s too early to tell if Senate Democrats have it in them to mount a real resistance to Trump’s extreme plans over the next four years. But one way to gauge the fire in their bellies is how they vote in the coming days and weeks on more of the president’s Cabinet picks. And at least one of their colleagues in the House will be watching.
“If you are a Senator right now confirming ANY Trump nominee who will not unambiguously defend their oath to the Constitution even if that means standing up to Trump you are completely misunderstanding the risk of this moment,” Casten said on social media.
Igor Bobic contributed reporting.